Throughout my professional career I've always worked in an office environment and had my bosses and colleagues around me for any advice or just a silly chat. Whilst working from home has its advantages (no commute, home comforts and more free time), you also miss out on those chance encounters with people at work and the relationship building that comes with being around your colleagues all day.
For me when I started at Glasswall in early August I found myself in unchartered territory and had to change how I would build my own relationships with my colleagues. Luckily for me Glasswall's culture far exceeded any of my expectations and it was made very easy to get to know people and feel comfortable reaching out to anyone.
Glasswall's culture far exceeded any of my expectations
I always wanted to work for a company that embraced open conversation, idea and knowledge sharing and so far Glasswall has ticked all these boxes. We have regular AMA's, regular project meetings and we are also invited to an "All hands" meeting where we get to hear in detail about the company's big plans. This made me feel very confident about working from home and knowing my biggest enemy would be myself...
Nobody prepares you for working from home, you think it will be a cake walk but from my experience it takes a lot of focus and being very disciplined. Planning out your day, making sure you're taking regular breaks and when you "log off" make sure you aren't then checking emails or working late into the night. This can be a slippery slope, which leads to burn out and will always end in tears!
My first month was quite intense, I made sure I joined any meetings I could and tried to get involved where possible. The first hurdle for any "techie" joining a new company is getting to know the tech stack and even if it's something you've used before, it can be done differently from company to company. So I made sure I was diving head first into all documentation, learning paths on Linux Academy and Pluralsight to give me the best chance of understanding what I'm going to be working with!
Overall my first month's experience at Glasswall has been amazing! It's refreshing to work for a company that really is passionate about technology and is so willing to change things if it suits a purpose and is something that will improve a workflow. I'm proud to be part of Glasswall and look forward to growing with the company!